Cloud9 sweeps Phoenix1 to earn NA LCS finals berth

Cloud9 jungler Juan "Contractz" Garcia has plenty to smile about after his team's semifinal sweep of Phoenix1 in the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split playoffs Saturday in Vancouver, Canada. Provided by Riot Games

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No. 2 seed Cloud9 convincingly swept No. 3 Phoenix1 in the first series of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split semifinals 3-0 Saturday in Vancouver, Canada.

The teams traded a handful of kills in the early stages of Game 1 as well as objectives, but both were even in gold at the 30-minute mark, with the same turrets taken on each side. A pick onto P1 support Jordan "Shady" Robison's Karma blew the game open for Cloud9. After winning the subsequent 5-vs-4 fight and taking Baron, Cloud9 ended the game with the buff still active at 34 minutes.

Game 2 was all about the junglers: Both C9's Juan "Contractz" Arturo Garcia's Graves and Rami "Inori" Charagh's Rengar maintained 100 percent kill participation in the early game. However, Contractz, the NA LCS Rookie of the Split, managed to help out his team more early on, leading to a sizable advantage for Cloud9.

Phoenix1 did an admirable job trying to claw back into the game and found a handful of picks, but Contractz snuffed out the enemy's hopes with his quadra kill in the game's final teamfight. He maintained his perfect kill participation and finished with a 6/1/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) in the victory.

The final game of the series was the worst of the bunch for Phoenix1, as William "Meteos" Hartman, a former Cloud9 player, had even less success than Inori after being subbed in. He found nothing for his team in the early game, and Cloud9 was able to win two major teamfights before the 20-minute mark.

With its enormous lead, C9 had no trouble systematically tearing P1 to shreds, including a final ace before ending the game in just over 25 minutes to complete the 3-0 sweep and earn a spot in the finals.

Cloud9 will find out whether it will face its old rival Team SoloMid or former sister team FlyQuest following the 3 p.m. ET semifinal match Sunday between those. Phoenix1 will face the loser of that match April 22 in the third/fourth-place game.